Speak to a Girl
by ElleMalfoy65
Summary: When Hermione tells their son no, he lashes out and calls her a name. Draco comes home and Hermione tells him about it. He goes in to talk to his son, planning to teach him a very important lesson. Always, always respect your mum. D.M./H.G.


**A/N: So laying in bed early in the morning listening to YouTube was a bad idea. Because I came across a cover of this song and the plunny just started bouncing around in my mind. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are staples in the country music fandom, this song of theirs is great, it's called** **Speak to a Girl** **. But it wasn't the original song that inspired the fic, it was the cover done by** **Kurt Hugo Schneider** **so if you would like to understand where I was coming from with this fic, feel free to listen to either song. Please let me know what you think!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, only the plot that I came up with.**

 **Speak to a Girl**

"May I have more syrup, please?"

Hermione turned around to the little voice with a smile. Her sleepy little boy was still rubbing his eyes as he sat in front of his breakfast plate. His pale blond curls were sticking up all over his head in an unruly mess, just as they were every morning. Scorpius had pancakes piled high on the plate and they were practically drowning in syrup. "No, baby. You have enough syrup there."

Her own honey brown eyes turned back up at her, wide with shock that he'd been told no. As if he'd never heard the word before. "But Mummy, Gram always lets me have more syrup." Hermione sighed. It was a constant battle with Narcissa on what she and Draco wanted for Scorpius versus what Narcissa thought was right. That was how her husband had ended up such a spoiled little prat. Hermione would be damned if her son would end up that way.

"That is at Gram's house, Scorp. You are not at Gram's house, so you will do as Mummy says. Mummy says no more syrup." Hermione hated being stern with him, she truly did. But he had to learn that he couldn't always get his way.

Hermione turned to finish cleaning up the mess she'd made while making the pancakes. When she heard a loud clanging and a shattering sound, she turned back around, wide eyed. There was a pancake stuck to the wall, syrup dripping down and sliding to the floor, where the plate was shattered and the silverware was scattered. "Scorpius Granger Malfoy! What on Earth do you think you're doing?"

Her son looked at her with hatred in his eyes for the first time in his six short years and it took her by surprise. "You wouldn't give me more syrup. So I didn't want to eat anymore. Filthy mudblood."

Hermione's mouth went dry and her stomach dropped to her feet at the two words that left his mouth. It had been at least twelve years since anyone had uttered those two slanderous words in her direction. Now her son had just hurtled them at her. Where he had learned them, she had no idea. "Don't you ever dare use those words again, young man. Not to me, not to anyone. Ever. Do you understand me?"

Her voice was calm and level, but her tone was stern and Scorpius knew that he was in trouble. His attitude vanished and he straightened up on his stool. "Yes, Mummy."

"Those are two very cruel, vile words and they can hurt someone very deeply. Now, I will clean up the plate, but you will clean up the syrup and pancakes. Then you will go to your room and wait until your father gets home." Scorpius slumped, his chin dropping to his chest as he sniffled. He knew that his punishment wasn't over when Hermione said that.

Hermione moved over to the wall where the mess was and stooped down, using her wand to gather the broken pieces of the plate, making sure to get every shard. She didn't want her baby to get hurt, after all. She levitated the pieces into the trash bin and moved to get Scorpius two pails-one of soapy water, one with clean water and a sponge. She set them next to the oozing sticky syrup puddle and looked over at Scorpius, who was climbing down from the stool. He looked up at her with tears rolling down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Mummy."

"Thank you for apologizing, Scorpius. Now clean up this mess. Mummy will be in the living room." He nodded, then stuck his small hands into the soapy pail, finding the sponge and giving it a squeeze, starting in on his chore.

Hermione barely made it to the living room when she started to cry. She clamped down her jaw, her throat tight to keep in the sounds of her sobs. Her hand was over her mouth to help stifle the sound as well as she collapsed into the couch, pulling her knees to her chest. To hear those words again after so many years had brought up some bad memories. In a momentary lull in her sobs, her right hand dropped to rub at her left forearm, where that offending word was carved into her skin forever.

Sometime later, Scorpius came in, climbing on the couch next to her and curled up, snuggling into her side. "I'm all done, Mummy."

Hermione turned and kissed the top of his head, inhaling the scent that was so much like his father's, and sighed softly. "Thank you, baby. I love you. Now go on to your room and wait for Daddy."

Scorpius leaned up and kissed her cheek, scooting off the couch. "I love you, Mummy."

Hermione watched as he ran off to his room and let her head fall back against the couch. She needed to get up and go see how well Scorpius did at cleaning the wall and floor. There was still going to be some work to be done, she knew.

She rose from the couch and walked back into the kitchen. A smile lifted her cheeks as she looked at the wall. Scorpius had done pretty well, except for the highest point that he couldn't reach and in the crevice where the wall met the floor. Hermione pointed her wand at the mess and whispered quietly, " _Scourgify_."

The mess disappeared and Hermione quickly put away the rest of the dishes she had been cleaning. She sat on the stool that Scorpius had vacated and leaned her head in her hands, sighing quietly, trying to figure out where Scorpius might have heard that phrase.

That was how Draco found her when he came home. His arms wrapped around her shoulders and he kissed along the side of her neck. She closed her eyes and dropped her head to the side, giving him more access, a moan of approval leaving her lips. When he stopped and kissed the back of her head, she turned around on the stool to face him. "Hello there, handsome."

"Hello. How is my beautiful wife?" It was the same question he asked her every time he came home, whether he had been gone one hour or six.

"I'm okay." Hermione looked up into his grey eyes and attempted a smile, but it didn't get very far. She watched his brow fall, the skin between his brows creasing as he sensed her mood. "What happened?"

She quickly relayed the event of a couple of hours before, watching as Draco's eyes widened, his brows riding impossibly high on his forehead. "He said what?"

Hermione nodded, chewing on the inside of her lip. "Yeah, he said it. Oh my god, Draco, I swear I felt my heart break. I have no idea where he could have picked it up, either. It was one thing to hear you say it back when we were in school, but to hear your own child call you that?" Her voice wavered as her eyes filled with tears.

The rising anger was visible in Draco's eyes as he wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "That boy is in so much trouble."

A hitched breath later. she shook her head, "Draco, don't be too harsh on him. He's already had one punishment in cleaning his mess. He just needs to understand the damage words can have on a person."

Draco sighed, placing his forehead against hers, and nodded, kissing her lips gently. "Okay, love. I'll go and talk to him. I love you."

"I love you too, Draco."

XxX

What were they going to do with this boy of theirs? He'd been acting out quite a bit lately and Draco didn't know where these behaviors were coming from. But he was damn sure going to find out. He wouldn't have Scorpius disrespecting his mother. That was one thing Draco was taught never to do, and it was a lesson he intended on passing down to his son.

Draco took the stairs two at a time, stopping on the landing to take a deep breath. It wouldn't do any good to go in angry. His son was too much like he was. If he went in angry, Scorpius would just get defensive. Draco began to walk again, his dragonhide dress shoes clacking on the hardwood floors Hermione had insisted upon. He stopped outside Scorpius' open bedroom door and leaned against the frame. The boy was sitting in his window seat, blond curly head bent over, nose buried in a thick book, looking so very much like his mother.

Scorpius was oblivious to Draco's arrival and Draco took the time to try and decide how he was going to approach this whole situation. When his son sighed and looked up from his book, Draco tilted his head. Scorpius turned his eyes to look out of his window, those eyes identical to his mother's glancing up to the heavens. The little boy's voice was quiet when he spoke to Draco's dead father. "I was just trying to be like you said my daddy was when he was younger, Grandfather. But I hurt my mum, I made her cry. She thinks I didn't see, but I did."

Draco suddenly understood where Scorpius had learned those vile, repulsive words. He had been visiting Lucius' portrait at the Manor. Draco hung his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. He would have to have a word with his mother about locking and warding that door when Scorpius came to visit. Draco lifted his knuckles up and gently rapped on his son's door. "Scorp?"

Scorpius jumped, turning to face Draco, his brown eyes sad and already luminous with tears. "Daddy, I'm so sorry. I told Mummy I was sorry."

Draco walked into the room, taking a seat on the window seat with his young heir. "I know, buddy. Your mum told me that you did. But we still need to have a little chat about your behavior and your actions today." Scorpius' head fell, his chin dipping and hitting his chest. Draco heard a sniffle and smiled softly. "I heard what you just said, to your grandfather Lucius." Draco nodded at the window behind him. "You've been visiting his portrait, haven't you?"

Those unkempt blond curls bobbed as Scorpius nodded his head. "Yes, sir."

"That is where you learned what those words were and what they meant?" When Scorpius nodded again, Draco continued. "Your grandfather was not a nice man, Scorpius. He believed that the makeup of your blood determined your magical ability. He tried to raise me with the same belief, but as I grew older, I realized how wrong he was. Do you know why?"

Scorpius frowned, his thumb riffling the pages of his book. "Yes. No. Maybe."

Draco chuckled softly, "There was this bushy-haired, buck-toothed, swotty little know-it-all Gryffindor muggleborn girl and she constantly bested me in every single class, except for Potions. I called her those very words in our second year. But still, she constantly proved to me that muggleborns weren't 'dirty' as my father had taught me to believe. Then, in our third year, I was jealous of Harry Potter because he got to ride the hippogriff and I didn't. I didn't believe our professor when he said that hippogriffs were proud creatures. I offended the animal and it scratched my arm. Of course, I played it up and Father was furious.

"He got the poor animal sentenced to death. My friends and I left the castle to go and watch the animal get its head chopped off. But Harry Potter and his friends, that girl included, came out and she was furious. She had some strange thing about cruelty to animals. She called me a 'foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach' and punched me, breaking my nose."

Draco broke off when he heard Scorpius giggle. "A girl broke your nose?"

Scorpius dissolved into giggles and Draco waited him out. "Yes, a girl broke my nose. She had a mean right hook. But it was sixth year, when she believed in me, when no one else did, that I knew that muggleborns were no different than I was, even though I was a pureblood. She pulled me to the Light side of the war and I haven't left the Light since. Do you know who that girl was?"

Draco watched as his son shook his head, those blond curls bouncing around on the top of his head. "That girl was your mummy."

That stopped his son's mirth. Scorpius' brown eyes looked up at him, wide and surprised. "Really?"

Draco nodded with a smile. "Absolutely. And let me tell you buddy, your mummy is nothing short of amazing. She doesn't care about how many Galleons I have or how I spend them. She cares about how I treat her. She doesn't just need a husband, she needs a friend and for me to say what I mean and mean everything that I'm saying.

"Because, Scorpius, that's how you talk to a woman. That's how you speak to a girl. That's how you get with the lady that's worth more than absolutely anything in your whole entire world." Draco paused, stroking Scorpius' cheek with a smile and tousled his hair. "You better respect your mum, respect the hell out of her, because that's how you talk to a woman. That's how you speak to a girl."

Scorpius looked up at Draco with those eyes that his wife looked at him with every night before they went to sleep and every morning when they woke up. "I promise to respect Mummy from now on."

Draco looked at his son with a smile. "Not just your mummy, buddy. All girls and women alike, including your Gram, Nana, Aunt Ginny and your cousin Lily. Because the women close to you, they don't care about your pride or the lies that you try to hide behind. They want to know that you're real, that they're close to the real man that's inside of you. They don't need to hear that they're a queen on a throne, even though they are, or that they're more than amazing. Just say what you mean and mean everything you're saying. So as long as you remember that, you won't hurt your mum or any other woman."

Scorpius nodded at Draco and he couldn't help but smile at his son. "Okay, Daddy. I'll remember that forever." Little arms were thrown around his neck and Draco wrapped his arms around the little boy, rubbing his back.

"I love you, Scorpius. Your mother and I both do. We never want you to feel as if we don't love you, okay?" When his son nodded, Draco kissed the top of his head and stood. "Alright, son. Now, clean up this room a little. It's filthy, boy. And under no circumstances are you ever allowed to visit your grandfather's portrait again, understood?"

The Malfoy heir nodded and slid down from the window seat to begin picking up his room. Draco moved to the doorway, watching as Scorpius did as he said, before leaving. He didn't get far. Hermione was standing just five feet from Scorpius' door with happy tears in her eyes. "Draco, that was a beautiful speech. Oh, I love you so."

His beautiful wife wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly on the lips, her fingers playing with the hair at the base of his neck. "I love you, too," he murmured against her lips.

Hermione started to pull him to their room with a smile on her face. "I have something to tell you." Draco raised his brow as they made it into their room, the door shutting on its own. Hermione dropped her arms from his neck and turned, sauntering to the bed, pulling her shirt over her head.

A smirk lit up Draco's face as she began to shimmy out of her shorts, leaving her in her bra and knickers. "And just what is it you have to tell me, love?"

She grinned and pulled her wand from under her pillow, twirling it through her fingers. "You're going to love it." Her fingers wrapped around her wand as she waved it over her abdomen, casting the same spell she'd used when they'd found out she was pregnant with Scorpius. But this time, something different happened. Instead of the same single glowing orb, there were now two.

"There's two orbs, Hermione," Draco said, pointing out the obvious.

Hermione laughed softly as she nodded, her eyes watching the glowing balls of light softly shifting back and forth from blue to pink, with purple in between, before settling definitively on pink. It was a good thing he had just had that conversation with Scorpius, it seemed. "Yes, Draco. There are two orbs there. Do you know what that means?"

Draco gulped, the sound audible in the room. "Twins." Merlin help him, he'd just gotten the hang of being a father to one kid, and that had taken seven years. He was so screwed.


End file.
